Garret Maino’s Era GT40 MK II

Garret Maino has been a car guy for nearly all of his 38 years, and has had a soft spot in his car-guy heart for the GT40 ever since he saw it featured in a kit car magazine in the mid-’90s. He’d built a Lamborghini kit he bought from a Canadian firm and even fashioned his own chassis for it. He also had an ERA Cobra 427 and was happy with both his Snake and Lambo—until the ’40 got to him. “I immediately sold my Lambo and bought the ERA GT40,” says the Farmington, Connecticut–based Garret.

That was in 1996. He bought the bare kit and was working on it when his son was born. The responsibility of raising a newborn cut into his shop time, and it took him three years to complete the build, according to Garret, “wasn’t a complicated build.” Also, the car spent nearly a full year in the body shop. This car is more complicated than building the Cobra, because of the fitting of the roof and doors and because there are more systems in this car (air conditioning, among others)—“but the build was easy,” Garret says. He built his own shift linkage but followed ERA’s kit design for most of the rest of the build.

After three years of work, Garret, who is the owner of Fabtron, a metal-fabrication shop, had finished his new project just the way he wanted it, complete with an upgraded MoTec fuel-management system. “The Motorola 32-meg processor allows for cold startup, traction control, and all the best things that 21st-century technology can do for a ’60s race-and-street car,” he says. The ERA GT comes with a stainless steel sheetmetal chassis in semi-monocoque style, with a ZF five-speed transaxle rear, limited slip, custom ERA axles, IRS rear, and a ¾-inch antiroll bar. ERA also provides independent double-wishbone front suspension and custom spindles.

Garret outfitted the car with Eibach front and rear springs and new Corvette brakes throughout. He relocated the battery to the rear portion of the tub, and added a modified MGB steering box to the ERA steering column.

The car sits on custom Youngblood 16-inch wheels, covered with Goodyear Eagle rubber—235/50/16s in front and 265/50/16 rain tires in rear.

For power, Garret chose a Ford 302 small-block with TFS aluminum heads. After machining by Phil Molsky, the engine pops out 435 hp at 6,800 rpm. The crankshaft is from PMR racing and is complemented by Eagle rods, TRW bearings, a Melling oil pump, and Isky cams with TFS aluminum heads. His MoTec ignition and TWN throttle bodies take care of the ignition setup while exhaust is covered by Fabtron custom headers, for 395 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 rpm. His ZF 5DS-25/2 transmission and Weber clutch fine-tunes the combination and has given Garret the punch he needs to achieve a top speed of 180 mph in his 2,460-pound head-turner.

Garret installed a Weber IDA fuel-injection system and a custom airbox, and Koni coilovers and Ford Motor Sport valve covers finished the job. ERA completed the hand-laid fiberglass body with a sky-blue paint job, and Garret added on Cibie headlights, Smith gauges, and black vinyl upholstery. The combination is striking and was certainly a standout at last year’s Carlisle Kit Car Nationals, where this feature was photographed. “The righthand drive took me about half a day to get used to, and it is a challenge on the on-ramps, but I love it…and it is a real head-turner,” Garret says.

“I am the only car enthusiast at my house, and the garage is pretty full now, so I think this is my last kit car,” said Garret.

His next project? “Probably a kit plane,” he says. Nice project, but with this ERA GT40 kit, Garret is already flying high.